Peter J. Navarro''s mother begged her son not to return to Iraq this summer when he came home for his younger brother''s funeral.
Navarro told her he had to go back.
"''Mom, they would be a man short,''" Rowena Navarro recalled him telling her. "''Somebody''s taking my place and that''s not fair.'' He said, ''They''d do the same thing for me.''"
Navarro, 20, of Wildwood, Mo., was killed Dec. 13 by a roadside bomb northwest of Baghdad. He joined the Army right after graduating from high school in 2003, forgoing his acceptance at Truman State, and was assigned to Fort Riley.
Pete Navarro''s father, Jose Navarro, is a retired chief petty officer for the Navy. He described Pete as a strong-willed young man and dedicated soldier.
"He cared for the soldiers he worked with. He would do anything for his friends," Jose Navarro said. "And he told me he believed in what the mission was."
Pete''s younger brother, Daniel Navarro, 18, died in a car accident in Washington state on July 5. Pete came home on a two-week leave from the military to attend the funeral.
"I wanted him to stay," Rowena Navarro said.